(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus for a server, and more particularly to an information providing apparatus for holding information that users can individually use, on a WWW (World Wide Web) server which provides information on the Internet, so that the users do not need external mass storage mediums such as hard disks at their terminals.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Recent years have seen the advent of small portable information terminals with a communications capability, which provides an environment allowing the user to gain access to the Internet and intranets from any places at any times. Some of the small portable information terminals carry information browsing software known as a browser for the user to view various items of information that are offered through the Internet.
Services for offering information on the Internet include the pull-type service and the push-type service. The pull-type service is a generally used service for the user to access a server from their terminal and pulls necessary information from the server. Since the user cannot obtain desired information unless they access a server, if a source of information at the server frequently updates the information, then the user finds it necessary to access the server frequently in order to obtain the latest information. The push-type service does not require the user to obtain information, but automatically delivers the latest information to the user, thus eliminating the trouble which the user would otherwise take with the pull-type service that needs frequent access to the server. With the push-type service, the browser at a user""s terminal incorporates a channel function for controlling the push-type service, and the user registers in advance the address of a desired server as a channel in the browser. The browser checks the server at predetermined intervals of time to see if there are new contents at the server or not. If there are new contents at the server, then the browser automatically downloads the information from the server into the terminal.
Servers that operate on the Internet have application programs for offering information. Many of those application programs are stored in a hierarchical array of directories set up in a memory of the server. For executing such an application program, it is necessary to place executable files of the application program in certain directories indicated by the server. Generally, there are available two types of such directories. One directory type stores files for displaying static pages with no motion to display contents of such pages. The other directory type stores files for displaying dynamic pages with motion to execute programs. The server permits only files placed in those directories to display contents or execute programs.
According to one scheme of the pull-type service, the user specifies certain conditions, and the server generates and sends back information that complies with the conditions. The generated information occasionally becomes so large that the terminal needs corresponding storage capacity and time in order to download the information. According to the push-type service, terminals require a special program for registering channels and automatically downloading latest information and a large-capacity memory for storing downloaded information. Inasmuch as individual terminals have respective user-dependent usage environments, there are certain limitations on use of different terminals by each user. Portable information terminals find it difficult to store information and use stored information because they do not have a large-capacity memory or an external storage medium such as a hard disk.
Application programs at servers are managed by directories. Therefore, each time an application program is added at a server, the supervisor of the server needs to manually generate a directory and install the program. As the number of application programs to be added increases, the manual work that should be performed by server supervisor becomes considerably complex. For this reason, servers can provide only application programs that can be used by all users, but not application programs that are specific to individual users.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information providing apparatus for a server, which is capable of allowing portable information terminals with no large-capacity memory and no external storage medium to store and use a large amount of information, and of holding application programs specific to individual users without causing the server supervisor any trouble, and a computer-readable recording medium which stores an information providing program for the server.
To achieve the above object, there is provided in accordance with the present invention an information providing apparatus for a server connected through a network to a plurality of users. The information providing apparatus includes user""s individual information memory means for storing therein user""s individual information in areas assigned respectively to the users, contents storage means for storing information to into the user""s individual information memory means, and contents usage control means for reading the information stored in the user""s individual information memory means and using the read information.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of example.